Medicare Part D is the type of Medicare insurance that will cover your prescription drug coverage. It is a separate program from health insurance and other types of Medicare coverage. You will become eligible for Medicare when you turn 65 and you should get it right away if you want to, unless you have another type of prescription drug coverage.
Medicare Part D and Employer or Union Health Coverage
A union or employer health plan is one that is provided by and partially paid for by your employer. Employers and unions often offer coverage to members and employees to entice top talent to stick around. Each employer and union gets to decide by itself how it will interact with Medicare and if it will require participants to use Medicare when they turn age 65, or if they will provide coverage through employer plans. As you near the age of 65 your employer or union will notify you of any actions you will need to take. They could either keep your current plan, off you a plan on Medicare Part D or drop your coverage all together, in which case you would want to get your own Medicare Part D plan.
Medicare Plan D and Medigap
Medigap means Medicare supplement. These programs are private insurance plans that you would buy yourself to help cover extra things that might not be covered by Medicare. Most of these plans don’t have prescription coverage, so in that case, you can get a separate Medicare Part D plan that is just by itself - yes it is possible to do that!
Medicaid and Medicare Part D
Medicaid is often confused with Medicare but it is actually totally different. Medicaid is the program that helps to provide medical and prescription drug services for low income people in the United States. If you are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare, then you are obligated to get prescription drug coverage through Medicare Part D. If you are low income you may qualify for extra assistance to pay for Medicare and/or Medicare Part D as well.
Medicare Part D and Other Health Insurance
Other health insurance programs include ones for federal government employees and ones for veterans. Under federal employee health benefits, you can typically choose whether or not you want to do your current plan or Medicare Part D, and still keep your benefits. If you end up losing your federal benefits, you can join Medicare without a late enrollment fee as long as you get coverage within about 2 months. The same is true for veterans who are enrolled in the Tricare for Life Program. This program benefits both veterans and their immediate families. It is one of the ways that the country pays back the people who have fought for freedom. However, if you are in this program and you decide to drop your coverage, you won’t need to pay a late-enrollment fee for Medicare Part D.
In Conclusion
So you can see that Medicare Part D works very well with a variety of different types of insurance situations. Whether you have coverage from your employer or union, are covered under Medicaid, have veteran’s coverage or government employee health insurance, you can find a way to benefit from the great prescription drug program that is Medicare Part D. If you are approaching the age of 65 please keep reading all of the details about Medicare Part D that are found on this site. They will help you to make sure you are getting covered and having the best possible outcome for your prescription drug coverage as you ease into life milestones like retirement and old age.